Board of Directors
President, Core Wellness Life Coaching, LLC
Meredith’s mission with Core Wellness has two parts. The first is to meet people where they are at, to educate them about how their food obsession or excess weight is keeping them in chains, and help them see how greater self-awareness can help them live powerfully. Meredith will guide them in finding the right road to wellness so they can create better relationships with food and better lives for themselves.
Core Wellness has another goal. That is to help those people and organizations that are working tirelessly to get our nation healthier to get their message heard. In the face of an obesity epidemic, a rise in food addiction and eating disorders, these people are contributing practices, treatments, services, programs and knowledge that are making a difference. Their work individually and collectively can make an even greater impact. Meredith is committed to helping them communicate their message where it hasn’t been heard.
Meredith Terpeluk, MNA has built, led, and managed coalitions to promote wellness in communities and organizations. She has built partnerships to create events that promote healthy lifestyles to children at the local and national level. She has strategically advised, planned, and managed large-scale initiatives for organizations with a message to make a larger impact. She has built structures for individuals related with a common interest. She has helped individuals suffering from food disorders to find the best treatment and educated young girls about wellness.
As the Director of Secretarial Prevention Initiatives in the Office of Public Health and Science at the Department of Health and Human Services, Meredith revived the Healthier Children Memorandum of Understanding group between USDA, DOE, and HHS to create policy change around getting kids healthy. She was a member of a Secretarial working group on obesity, the Obesity Interagency Working Group created at the Department of Health and Human Services to bring together all research, and initiatives across government, the HHS representative for the interagency group on Healthier Feds, and the White House Homeland Security Council representative for an interagency committee devoted to food security. In South Bend, she has been a leader in transforming the mission of the Reducing Obesity Coalition of St. Joseph County.
Outreach and building partnerships has been a key aspect of Meredith’s work, especially around childhood obesity. The two most significant partnerships Meredith created were at the national and local level. Meredith led a partnership with a non-profit focused on reducing obesity called, Action for Healthy Kids to create a national initiative called “Game On! The Ultimate Wellness Challenge.” As a Masters degree candidate at the University of Notre Dame, Meredith led an initiative for the ND Athletic Department to reach out to children in the community. She went into the community and built a partnership with the local Parks and Recreation Department, and the local YMCA for Notre Dame Athletics to create “Fit for Fun with the Irish.” In her previous work at the White House Office of Public Liaison, Meredith’s job was to reach out on the President’s agenda around women’s issues such as leadership and health and children. Her greatest accomplishments were working with the National Ovarian Cancer Alliance to get a National Ovarian Cancer Month and with the Komen Foundation to do Presidential events for their cause. More outreach was done while working at the White House Homeland Security Office as their public representative to gain support for the President’s Homeland Security agenda.
Managing or advising organizations on large-scale initiatives is another area Meredith has focused. At the Department of Health and Human Services, Meredith assisted in the creation and marketing of the book, “A Healthier You: Based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” She advised the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports about gaining support for their 50th anniversary. In her work at the White House, Meredith managed and led the President’s cabinet and leadership to travel on his behalf to market his message as President and candidate. As a member of the White House Homeland Security Council, Meredith advised leadership on the created of the Public Affairs office of the new Department. Early 2008, she designed a strategic plan for a non-profit called Hello Gorgeous!, which provides makeovers to women suffering from cancer to make a bigger impact.
Meredith has extensive event-planning experience as well. In the Office of Public Liaison at the White House, Meredith did numerous events for the President with Women CEOs, breast cancer survivors, the Afghan Children’s Fund, and St. Patrick’s Day. At Health and Human Services, Meredith worked on a HealthierFeds initiative, the Secretarial Prevention Awards and the announcement of the HHS Partnership with Shrek and Dreamworks Productions.
Meredith’s other work has been her involvement with the University of Notre Dame. During her time in Washington, D.C. Meredith created a group for young professional alumni of Notre Dame to network called ND WIN (Notre Dame Washington Irish Network). During her time as a graduate student at Notre Dame, Meredith consulted the Notre Dame Alumni Association on implementing a professional network group for women alumni and board membership. She also advised the Development Office on reaching out to alumnae.
Meredith holds a Bachelor of Arts and recently completed and Masters in Non-Profit Administration from the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN.
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